Pneumatic horn and support means therefor



Jan. 3, 1956 c. F. ERIKSON PNEUMATIC HORN AND SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR Filed April 28, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

/7 TTOANE Y Jan. 3, 1956 c. F. ERIKSON PNEUMATIC HORN AND SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR Filed April 28, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I m1! 1 llllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIIH INVENTOR.

United States Patent ice PNEUMATIC HORN AND SUPPORT MEANS THEREFOR CarlF. Erikson, White Plains-N. Y.) assignor to Nathan Manufacturing Cor oration, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 2J8, 1953, Serial No. 351,550

4-Claims. (Cl.116'142) This is-a continuation-in-part of my cope'ndingapplication, Serial No.-271,953, filed February 16, 1952, for Supportfor Multiple Assembly.

This invention relates to base supports for assemblies such as multiple horns, whistles'or the like and its object is to reduce the expense and increase the versatility of such supports as to use in any one of a variety ofsuch-assemblies.

A typical use for the invention is on diesel locomotives which, being without steam pressure for the conventional locomotive whistle, are currently using an assembly of-air driven horn elements designed, in most cases, to give a more or less close imitation of the tone of a-cohventional locomotive whistle. These assemblies may use-two, three, four or five air driven horn-elements tunedto'a' musical chord to give the desired effect. For some installations, as

in switching or the like, a single horn-may be employed. Expense and the purpose to which the signal isto be put are the controlling factors in determining the complexity of a given installation. a

On diesel locomotives, these signal assemblies are bolted to a plate secured to thetop of the locomotive, the plate having one or more patterns of accepted bo'rings for attachment bolts. Theplate also has'a central opening for the air pressure connection. Space limitation imposed by overhead right-of-way structures and other practical requirements make it necessary to hold the complete horn assembly, in the case of diesel locomotives, to a maximum height of 12 or 13 inches, and generally the-lower it-ca-n be kept the better. In some installations it has been found desirable to have some of the horn elements of an assembly pointing forward and some backward,- so that a support base for such assemblies should provide for this contingency as well as for a variation in the number of horn elements.

The present invention is to supply the need for a base support capable of meeting the foregoing requirements 'whatever number or arrangement of horn units may be desired. An important feature of this invention is-the sturdy compactness of the support which carries the air under pressure to the horns Within the support itself, which eliminates any expensive piping for this purpose; At'the same time, this supportpermits the horns to be mounted with the air intake passage located a minimum distance from the throat of-the horn so that the head or diaphragm end of the horn will overlap the mounting surface and thus a maximum of compactness results which effects a tremendous saving in the number of parts, amount of material, and machining operations, necessary to manufacture a supporting device for this style air'horn. The fact, that the support itself carries the air supply channel, is another major contribution to the improved results gained by this support. The invention comprises a" base support having two sections designed to be used together as 'a unitary support and which, at'the same time, are so formed that each section may also be-usedseparatelyfor certain horn assemblies.

atented Jan. 3, 1956 In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one part of the base support;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same part;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the other'part of the support;

Fig. 4 is a top view-of the second part;

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrate how the base support may be used for varying horn assemblies;

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of both parts of the basesupport showing four horns mounted thereon;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of one part of the support showing three horns mounted thereon;

Fig. 11 is a bottom view of a horn showing its attaching means;

Fig. 12 is an end elevation of another embodiment of a support according to this'invent'i'on for mounting two horns; and

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the same embodiment shown in Fig. 12.

Part A' of the base support (Figures 1 and 2) is'in the nature of a manifold and has three similar support members, 10, of generally similar shape, and a uniting yoke 11 serving to hold the three support members 10 in the desired relation to each other, that is, with one of the members offset vertically from the line of the other two, as shown in Figure 1. As Figure 2 indicates, the three members preferably lie in the same vertical plane, but, if desired, they may be staggered laterally to lie in different vertical planeswithout departing-from the spirit of the invention. Each support member has at least twoattaching surfaces 12, one above and one below, allof which have like borings 13 for the attachment bolts and like cored holes for conducting the compressed air to the horn elements to be attached.

The uniting yoke, which is preferably cast integral with the support members, encloses'a channel 15 for the compressed air which opens into the'compres'sed air channels of each of the support members at a point intermediate the attaching surfaces thereof, so that if air is fed to any one of the attachingsurfaces, it reaches all of them alike.

Part B of the support is a simple upright-of a general form which is in itself common in the art, and is provided with opposed attaching surfaces 17 and 18 at its upper and lower ends respectively, one for connection withone or another of the attaching surfaces of part A as hereafter described and one for connection with the locomotive plate. in the form shown in Figs; 3 and 4-, it comprises a lower horizontal flange 19 with standard spaced openings 20 for bolts connecting it with the locomotive. The upper" surface has borings -21 to fit with the attachment bolt openings in the several support members of part A and these may extend completely through the lower flange to permit attachment to the locomotive by the same bolts that secure the signal elements to the upper surface. An'opening 22 for supplying air to drive the signals extends completely through part B in a location to mate with the'air openings in the locomotive plate and in the surface to be attached to the upper surface 17. Part B may, of course, be made in various forms but as shown in the drawings it gives maximum economy in material and labor without sacrifice of 'strengthor performance.

If desired, part B may be made integrally with part A so that a unit is formed wherein the middle support member 10-has only one horn attaching surface 12 on the surface 18' of part B (Fig. 3).

Figs. 5 to 8 illustrate how the support of the present invention may be used effectively and economically for supporting various horn assemblies.

in actual practice the diameters of the horn head members used in an assembly may sometimes differ one from another but usually do not and for simplicity of illustration the dotted lines in Figs. 5 to 8 showing the various possible horn arrangements, do not indicate differences in head member diameters.

By combining parts A and B with the part A turned so that the outer support members are in a plane above the middle member as shown in Fig. 5, the support accommodates five horn elements and any one of them may be faced in either direction, forward or backward.

If only four horn elements are to be used, the middle horn, a, will be omitted with the arrangement otherwise like that for five horn elements.

For a three horn assembly, the part A is inverted and attached to part B in the position shown in Figure 6 thus substantially lowering the resulting assembly.

For a two horn assembly the part B may be omitted and part A attached directly to the locomotive plate with the outside support members in the upper position as indicated in Fig. 7.

A two horn assembly may also be had by omitting the middle horn, b, in the arrangement of Fig. 6, and a three horn assembly may also be had by adding a horn at the middle support member of. the arrangement shown in Fig. 7.

For a single horn, part A is omitted and the horn is attached directly to the upper surface of part B, as shown in Fig. 8.

In any of these assemblies where an attaching surface of one of the attaching members is not used, the air port of that surface is closed by a simple plate held against the surface by the same bolts which would otherwise attach the horn, as is indicated at X in Figs. 6 and 7.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate an important feature that contributes to the compactness of mounting the horns on the support member. Fig. 9 shows an end view of both parts A and B with four horns mounted thereon. Referring to Fig. 11, it will be noted that each horn has an enlarged head member at the diaphragm end near the throat section 26 of each. The head member 25 extends laterally from the horn and overlaps the attaching surface 12 (Figs. 1 and 2) by an amount indicated by reference number 27 (see Figs. 9 and 10). Each horn has an attaching means 28 having a surface that corresponds to the attaching surfaces 12 of the support members, and having a passage 29 that matches cored holes 14 (Figs. 1 and 2), when the horn is bolted in place against an attaching surface 12. Fig. 10 illustrates a mounting of three horns using only part A to bolt the support for the horns to the plate on the locomotive.

Figs. 12 and 13 show another modification of a support assembly which includes a like support member 10. The support member 10 is in this case mounted on its side so to speak, i. e. with the attaching surfaces 12 lying vertically instead of horizontally. In this manner, two horns may be very compactly mounted side by side with an extremely sturdy and inexpensive support assembly that cooperates with the style of horn as contemplated by this invention, to give a very superior support device.

The compactness gained by use of this support creates a great saving in material necessary and at the same time provides a simplicity of the support which contributes to the ease of manufacture.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific apparatus herein shown and described but may be carried out in other ways without departure from its spirit.

I claim:

1. A support for a pneumatic horn wherein said horn has a head member near a throat section of the horn and has means for attaching the horn including a flat mounting surface having a passage therein to carry actuating fluid, said mounting surface lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the horn, said head member extending laterally beyond the outside dimensions of said throat and overlapping said mounting surface, said support comprising at least one support member provided with at least one attaching surface, said support member having within its body a channel for carrying the actuating fluid, said channel terminating at said attaching surface and matching with said horn passage when a horn is attached, said support member being dimensioned to allow lateral extension of the head member of a horn beyond at least a portion of the attaching surface of its support member for providing compactness in mounting said horn.

2. A support for a pneumatic horn wherein said horn has a head member near a throat section of the horn and has means for attaching the horn including a flat mounting surface having a passage therein to carry actuating fluid, said mounting surface lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the horn, said head member extending laterally beyond the outside dimensions of said throat and overlapping said mounting surface, said support comprising a plurality of support members, provided with at least one attaching surface on each member, each member having within its body a channel for carrying the actuating fluid, said channel terminating at said attaching surface and being aligned with said horn passage when a horn is attached, a yoke joining said support members, said yoke having a fluid channel therein, said yoke channel joining said support member channels, said support members being dimensioned to allow lateral extension of the head member of a horn beyond at least a portion of the attaching surface of its support member so that a compact and simplified mounting may be had.

3. A support for a pneumatic horn wherein said horn has a head member near a throat section of the horn and has means for attaching the horn including a fiat mounting surface having a passage therein to carry actuating fluid, said mounting surface lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the horn, said head member extending laterally beyond the outside dimensions of said throat and overlapping said mounting surface, said support comprising three similar support members each having a plurality of like attaching surfaces thereon, each member having within its body a channel for carrying the actuating fluid, said channel terminating at said attaching surfaces and being aligned with said horn passage when a horn is attached, a yoke joining said support members in a rigid and supporting manner, one of said support members being offset from a line joining the other two, all three of said members lying in substantially the same plane, said yoke having a fluid channel therein, said yoke channel joining said support member channels for supplying fluid to all said support members simultaneously, said support members having relatively short lateral dimensions such that the head member of each horn may extend transversely beyond the attaching surface when mounted thereon to allow an overlapping relation for compact mounting of the horns.

4. A support for a pneumatic horn wherein said horn has a head member near a throat section of the horn and has means for attaching the horn including a flat mounting surface having a passage therein to carry actuating fluid, said mounting surface lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the horn, said head member extending laterally beyond the outside dimensions of said throat and over lapping said mounting surface, said support comprising three similar support members each having a plurality of like attaching surfaces thereon, each member having within its body a channel for carrying the actuating fluid, said channel terminating at said attaching surfaces and being aligned with said horn passage when a horn is attached, a yoke joining said support members in a rigid and supporting manner, one of said support members being offset from a line joining the other two, all three of said members lying in substantially the same plane, said yoke having a fluid channel therein, said yoke channel joining said support member channels for supplying fluid to all said support members simultaneously, said support members having relatively short lateral dimensions such that the head member of each horn may extend transversely beyond the attaching surface when mounted thereon to allow an overlapping relation for compact mounting of the horns, and a base piece having an attaching surface on each of two opposite ends, said base piece incorporating a fluid channel therein, said base piece fluid channel terminating at each of said base piece attaching surfaces and matching with the terminus of any of said support member channels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

